


The End of the Road

by Incognito4713



Series: Nano2018 aka 101 dead chickens [11]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Background Relationships, Confessions, F/M, Gen, Loopholes get exploit, Mentioned Royai, Pining, Post-Promised Day, Revelations
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 18:35:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20012938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Incognito4713/pseuds/Incognito4713
Summary: Roy Mustang settles a dept





	The End of the Road

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone,  
> I got encouraged to start posting some more of my wips and I start with the one closest to my heart cause I love Maria and Denny and they deserve a happy end. 
> 
> Enjoy!

"I don't know what I am even doing here." Maria said into her hands as Riza put a cup of tea in front of her.

"You could start with telling me why you were sitting in the rain on the steps of the Bazar downstairs, second Lieutenant." Riza answered calmly and couldn't miss the way that the younger woman flinched at the sound of her rank.

"I just wanted to get some groceries and then I lost track of time."  
"Did something happen? Are you alright?"

From a first check over she did not see or notice any injuries but she herself knew very well how easy it is to hide those.

"It's nothing, I should go home and take a shower. I apologise for causing you trouble and being an inconvenience, first Lieutenant Hawkeye. " Maria said as she was about to get up.

"You are not a bother and I asked you to follow me here. I could not let you sit out there in the rain and catch a cold." she said with a smile as Hayate bumped his nose into Maria's hand. At least that got a tired smile out of her. 

"You can shower here and I will hang your clothes over the stove to dry while we wait for the rain to stop and if anything we can call you a cab or your parents to come and pick you up." Riza told her.  
"How does that sound?"

Maria looked up at the other woman and tried to smile back at her.  
"Yes, ma'am." She finally gave in and let the wither woman lead her to the bathroom.

"I will bring you a towel and some dry clothes, and don't be so formal, we are off duty now."  
All Maria could do was sigh deeply as the door fell shut behind her and she started stripping.

"What have I done?" she quietly muttered under her breath as she took in her reflection in the mirror.

Years as a soldier in Central had her body hardened and littered with minor and major scars even though she knew that other female soldiers looked a lot worse to wear. Like the woman on the other side of the door, who was one of the most accomplished bodyguards in all of Amestris.

And still she envied her a little bit because even though Riza Hawkeye was one of the most decorated snipers in the entire army, she still managed to get her Colonel to look at her like she was the single most important person in the universe.

But then, her Sergeant looked at her the same way when he thought no one was watching them. The only difference between the two of them was that she is the superior officer could not act on those improper, intrusive thoughts, same as the Colonel. They would abuse their power over their subordinates.

She never even thought about this before. Of course she noticed that Sergeant Brosch was very affectionate towards her and that they had a very close relationship with each other but she never thought about him in any other way than as a fellow soldier and her subordinate before. At least not outside of some disturbing dreams she sometimes had.

So the wave of deep hot jealousy she felt when she saw her Sergeant with another woman earlier who was not one of his sisters had her in shock. So much she wandered around the city too long and the Bazar where she wanted to buy groceries for dinner was already closed.

That was when the first Lieutenant Hawkeye found her. She had barely noticed that it had started to rain, let alone how late it got or how drenched she was.  
Lieutenant Hawkeye did not give her much choice as she took her by her arm and hoisted her into her apartment, apologising for the state of it and saying that she didn't have time yet to unpack all the boxes since her transfer to Central.

The hot water felt great on her cold clammy skin and she reminded herself to thank the older woman later for her suggestion. She noticed that at one point the bathroom door opened and clothes and a towel was positioned for her because a cold draft made her shiver. But after years of communal showers in the women's locker rooms in the headquarters had her think nothing of it. She was in the middle of shampooing her hair when she noticed that she never saw the first Lieutenant in the showers. Maybe she just was in there at a very different schedule? Well she has just been transferred so Maria did not know what training schedule the other woman had yet.

Her hours at the range seem to be different than those of the other female officers too. But that could be because she was a sniper first and foremost and not an officer. The weapon specialists in Central had always followed their own regime.  
And so it probably was just that.  
And as a senior officer she would be in a different group for combat training in the gym too.  
Maria smiled when she noticed that wondering about the first Lieutenant at least made her forget about her original problem with her Sergeant. Now there is something to be said about irony.

When she emerged from the bathroom her tea had long gone cold but the blond woman just smiled at her and waved her apology aside.

"It is quite alright, I can make a new one if you want." was her reply and before Maria could stop herself she said quietly: "A whisky would be more like it right now."

Riza just quirked up an eyebrow in surprise before she went to her cabinet to get two glasses and a bottle of amber liquid, the same colour as her eyes.

"It must be really bad if you resolve to drown your sorrow. Did something happen at work? Has Major Armstrong been chasing you shirtless again?"  
Maria just shook her head and thanked her as she was handed a glass with two fingers full of whisky  
.  
"No and please don't remind me of that. It happens often enough as it is. I know he doesn't see it that way but he is making everyone around him quite uncomfortable with actions like that. God knows how many people more or less spoke their condolences to me when I first started to work under his command. " she sighed deeply at that memory and looked up at the woman next to her when she heard her chuckle.

"I believe that. When I started out in East City I got the same reaction when people learned that I am working for Major Mustang." She put her finger to her lips. "Well or they accused me of sleeping my way to the top and I had to prove them wrong. There are quite a few bullet holes all over the Eastern Headquarters that I caused." The angelic smile that followed that statement had Maria question her own ability to judge a person's character. 

"You fired shots at people and no one filled a complaint?" 

"Oh don't get me wrong, there where a lot of complaints but most human resources personal just saw my name and my confirmed kills from the war and told the accusers to shove it where the sun does not shine. Or so I have been told. Could also be that working for that Flame Alchemist and being his adjutant gave me a little bit of an edge."

Maria could feel the cold sweat running down her cheek. 

"You people are beyond my paygrade to deal with" she said quietly in hopes not to be heard.  
"But aren't you the same as us? You fought homunculi, have been declared dead, helped to stage a coup d'etat and successfully put the blame on someone else. We know that it was mostly Fuery's, Brenda's and your work at the radio station that got us to where we are now." Riza swirled her whisky before she took a sip. 

"We will never be able to repay you accordingly for what you have done for Mustang and us. And we will never forget it either. " There it was again, that sad little smile that she sometimes wore when she spoke about the Colonel. 

"You have loved him for a long time, haven't you?" Maria asked quietly. 

"I know you can't answer that question and you don't have to. It is obvious to everyone who has ever spent more than 5 minutes in a room with the two of you." 

TBC


End file.
